Buxton tweeted that there were other teams that did not have a spare chasis.

April 4th "Amidst the continuing fallout following the Williams chassis issues in Australia and the knock on for Japan, worthy of note that having spoken to all teams today I’ve discovered Williams are not the only outfit in the pitlane who are running without a spare chassis."

5 teammate splits in Q1, mega lap from Bottas, bummer he couldn't put it into Q3.

quote:

Originally posted by redstone:
Buxton tweeted thst there were other teams that did not have a spare chasis.

Seems pretty clear RB is among those.
They have stated their intention to give Ricciardo a replacement chassis but it won't or can't happen until China.
I'd suspect Sauber, Haas and Alpine could also be in the same situation.

Just an observation.

There was a race last weekend… and the outcome was apparently boring… as no one has posted a single thing about Suzuka.

That doesn’t bode well for the sport, imho.

The result mau have been about as expected, but there were some good overtakes throughout.
Bottas took a couple into T1
Perez through 130R
Stroll a couple times just before Dunlop

Other than that, and the red flag, a pretty 'normal' race.

Williams mangled another chassis. I guess that's something, and if you believe Alpine, the light bump between Ocon and Gasly "ruined" both of their races...

There are other teams wanting to get on the grid. Maybe they should take a page from Premier League. The last two teams out and replaced with new.

quote:

Originally posted by dgshooter:
There are other teams wanting to get on the grid. Maybe they should take a page from Premier League. The last two teams out and replaced with new.

A neat idea on concept
But in the EPL, they are all using the same 'equipment'
Tough to cycle teams in/out of F1 similarly when F2/F1 don't interchange & it's a $$$ investment to even get started.

I think there'd be some merit to a more relaxed ruleset like the 70s/80s.
Fixed displacement for FI/NA/Hybrid, set dimensions & weights & let the teams do their thing, within whatever cost regulations.

Andretti keeping going, I really hope they force FOM's hand.

https://www.planetf1.com/news/...-silverstone-factory

The race must have been boring - even my dvr decided not to record it.

The only time any of the races is interesting is when RB is under duress, which doesn't happen very much. Cheering on midpack action ain't cutting it. Watching Ferrari and McLaren yield the floor to RB ain't cutting it. RB is blatantly too damn good...for the sport's own good.

Semantics, but the only drama with RB is Ricciardo's seemingly lacking of performance

RBR, on the other hand....

quote:

Cheering on midpack action ain't cutting it

I'm ok with it, and it's not just about cheering for miracles there as much as enjoying the tussles.

If I had ruled out enjoying F1 during any period of team dominance I would never have gotten into it. Well, I was into it before 2000 but not much.

Since then it's been Ferrari, a brief period of semi-parity, then Red Bull, then Mercedes, now Red Bull again. That's ~20 out of 24 years when folks were complaining that the sport sucked, was boring or worse doomed due to a team in complete dominance. Probably times before that with McLaren and Honda....

Apparently, not.

Thus ends the Alonso speculation

https://www.formula1.com/en/la...YlqBvQcJlYUwtV61LsEH

quote:

Fernando Alonso will continue to race in Formula 1 with Aston Martin next season after the team announced that the two-time world champion has signed a fresh deal to keep him onboard into 2026 and the sport’s next regulatory cycle.

Alonso made the move to Aston Martin from Alpine for 2023 and the two parties enjoyed a strong start to their partnership by bagging six podium finishes across the first eight races of last year’s campaign.

Highlights included P2 finishes in Monaco, Canada and the Netherlands, as the Spaniard helped the team rise from seventh to fifth in the constructors’ standings under team owner Lawrence Stroll’s push to turn Aston Martin into a title-contending force.

Amid relatively stable regulations, and a converging field, Aston Martin have experienced a solid but unspectacular start to the 2024 season, remaining in fifth position behind Red Bull, Ferrari, McLaren and Mercedes with a series of top-10 finishes.
​​​​​​​
Following on from the announcement of Lewis Hamilton’s shock switch to Ferrari for 2025, there was also plenty of speculation over Alonso’s future, initially regarding whether or not he would commit to another stint in F1 and, if so, if that would be with Aston Martin.

But both of those questions have now been answered, with news landing on Thursday afternoon that Alonso will extend his stay at the Silverstone outfit into a third campaign and beyond.

Aston Martin Team Principal Mike Krack said of the announcement: “Securing Fernando’s long-term future with Aston Martin Aramco is fantastic news. We have built a strong working relationship over the last 18 months and we share the same determination to see this project succeed.

“We have been in constant dialogue over the last few months and Fernando has been true to his word: when he decided he wanted to continue racing, he talked to us first. Fernando has shown he believes in us, and we believe in him.

“Fernando is hungry for success, driving better than ever, is fitter than ever, and is completely dedicated to making Aston Martin Aramco a competitive force.

“This multi-year agreement with Fernando takes us into 2026 when we begin our works power unit partnership with Honda. We look forward to creating more incredible memories and achieving further success together.”

Aston Martin sit fifth in the constructors’ standings after the opening four rounds of 2024, behind Mercedes, McLaren, Ferrari and leaders Red Bull.

First of the big hitters to sign.
I guess Red Bull wasn't an option and Mercedes wasn't looking like a guaranteed step up either.
Sainz and Mercedes is the next obvious question.

I've been watching long enough to remember when the dominant car of an era had a larger advantage than the Red Bull. The rules and budget cap just lock that into place longer now. Add to that the almost 100% reliability of the cars to rule out another area of unpredictability.

Even so, watching some of the more subtle aspects, like how Alonso worked the DRS to keep Lando away from Russell until the last lap to protect his own position, was a really impressive use of his brain power in addition to just driving the car.
Several others have been doing similar things recently. Sainz and Leclerc overruling the team strategy, come to mind and Hamilton has done similar things in the past too.

Read elsewhere that maybe MB didn't want the potential Alonso drama down the road.

So why would you sell your tickets back for $350, clearly COTA thinks it's tickets will be worth way more, just stick them on the internet if you want to profit...

Link

Bigger than Taylor Swift? COTA Offers to Buy Back Tickets for 2024 US GP Due to Music Headliner

Organizers of Formula 1’s United States Grand Prix have launched an unusual initiative—asking if fans want to make a profit by selling them back their tickets.

Formula 1’s United States Grand Prix has been held at the Circuit of the Americas since 2012 and this year’s event will take place across the weekend of 18-20 October. The Grand Prix is one of the best attended on the Formula 1 calendar, with a weekend attendance of 432,000 in 2023, a figure COTA expects to be broadly similar in 2024.

The US Grand Prix is one of the events that complements its on-track action with off-track activities, most notably its Friday and Saturday night music concerts, which in the past has been headlined by Taylor Swift, Elton John and Bruno Mars. COTA officials have yet to reveal its headliners for 2024—with an announcement due on April 29—but COTA Chairman Bobby Epstein has promised a name “perhaps the biggest since the Taylor (Swift) announcement” in 2016.

Queen and The Killers headlined race weekend in 2023.

COTA is now offering those who purchased an early bird three-day ground pass admission a chance to sell their package back to the venue for a profit, between now and May 6.

Explaining the situation, Epstein said: “In the past we’ve done early bird ticket sales and we do that often before we’ve got our whole program developed. This year we sold more than 10,000 GA tickets at a price of $299, and we are going to offer those buyers a chance of a profit, we’re going to offer to buy back those tickets at $350.

“When we announce our performers for this year’s Grand Prix weekend we know those tickets will be worth well more than they paid. So we think that’s an unusual thing. It continues to be about delivering a spectacular event that pleases racing fans, music lovers, campers, anyone that wants to share time with friends and family.”

Epstein conceded that “I don’t think many people will take us up on it” and accepted that those wishing to do so could use reseller websites “though they charge a commission,” but outlined that COTA’s ploy “makes a strong statement for us” irrespective of the number of punters who accept the offer.

“It may even encourage future buyers to realize there’s value in buying early,” he said. “Those early buyers showed faith in their promoters, and will continue to do so, when you can see gestures like this.”

COTA is also one of five Formula 1 venues on the calendar—along with Lusail, Barcelona, Silverstone and the Red Bull Ring—which also holds a round of the MotoGP championship.

Formula 1 owner Liberty Media recently announced that it will be acquiring MotoGP, raising the prospect of greater collaboration between the championships.

Epstein agreed that a joint round in the future would be “possible, I don’t know that it’s probable,” owing to the safety implications and the commercial and sponsorship clashes.

But Epstein is confident that Liberty Media’s prospective ownership of MotoGP can boost the category, including in the US, where Austin’s round – which is far from a sell-out – is the only stop in the Americas for the championship.

“We’re excited by it—probably more than anybody,” he said. “MotoGP has come to the US, and really not had a whole lot of attention to it, and once they leave [Austin] that’s all you hear for about another 51 weeks, so this is a fantastic thing to have.

“We’ve had 12 years of commitment to MotoGP and we really believe in it, it’s a fantastic competition and it’s just waiting for more people to discover it, so hopefully we’re one of the biggest beneficiaries of this purchase.”

Definitely odd

Trackside fires in both sessions today, never seen that before.

Glad to see both Kawasaki Sauber cars in SQ3